


I'll Swim

by Tubas_Rock1967



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Learning to Swim, M/M, Pining, Zuko doesn't know how to swim, sokka's a swim instructor, zukka - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:47:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24610300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tubas_Rock1967/pseuds/Tubas_Rock1967
Summary: Zuko was already regretting this. It all started because of the Olympics: Zuko liked to watch them a lot. His favourite event was swimming. The way their bodies glided through the water, it was so graceful! But watching it also made him embarrassed because he didn’t know how to swim, and so that’s what got him in this predicament. Zuko decided he would learn, but teaching himself never worked. So, he decided taking swimming lessons may be his best bet.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 55





	I'll Swim

**Author's Note:**

> I'll add tags as needed. Also, I haven't really done a multi-chapter fic before, but I'll try my best to update as often as possible, most likely once a week.

Zuko was already regretting this. It all started because of the Olympics: Zuko liked to watch them a lot. His favourite event was swimming. The way their bodies glided through the water, it was so graceful! But watching it also made him embarrassed because he didn’t know how to swim, and so that’s what got him in this predicament. Zuko decided he would learn, but teaching himself never worked. So, he decided taking swimming lessons may be his best bet.  
Zuko did a lot of research and found the local pool was offering private lessons for new swimmers who were older.

...

Saying Zuko was nervous was a bit of an understatement; he was freaking out internally. He was about to start lessons, and he was already freaking out about whether or not to wear a shirt. He didn’t want to stand out, but he felt uncomfortable without it. In the end, he decided to wear a shirt.

When he was finally ready, and the time for his lesson came, he walked out onto the pool deck, feeling relatively calm now. After about a minute, Zuko saw an instructor walking towards him. He was tall, muscular, had the bluest eyes Zuko had ever seen, and a ponytail. And then Zuko realized OH SHIT OH SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT NO NO NO NO! It was Sokka. Sokka was one of the most popular kids in school, and although Zuko would never admit it, he had a massive crush on him, and this was so embarrassing.

“So you must be Zuko, I’m Sokka, and I’ll be your instructor this session,” Sokka said, without even looking up from his clipboard. When he did, he seemed surprised, and within a moment, he plastered on a huge grin. 

Sokka was surprised, he knew Zuko wasn’t a common name, but he didn’t expect his student to be the quiet kid who sat in the back of the class and was always alone, who was kinda cute, but ‘those thoughts’ are for other times, not now, not with Zuko standing in front of him.  
“Okay, so let’s get started! What experience do you have with the aquatic environment?”

“None, really.” Zuko’s voice was barely existent.

“Okay, and do you have any fear of the water?”

“No.”

“Awesome, normally the hardest part of teaching adult and teen lessons is getting over fear, so that’s already half the battle done… anyways, let’s get in the water.”

They headed towards the stairs, Sokka getting in first. “Okay Zuko, let’s start with something simple. You’re gonna go underwater if you can’t, then we can start with something easier…”

“No, I can do it.” Zuko went under and came back up, the water having immediately gone up his nose. He was sputtering and coughing.

“When you go under, make sure to exhale through your nose. That way, you don’t get water up it.” 

Zuko went red from embarrassment.

Eventually, Zuko managed to successfully go underwater without inhaling water, which Sokka praised him for. “Awesome job!” 

They moved onto floats after that.  
“Okay, so now we’re going to do some floats, starting with the front one.” Sokka said while demonstrating. “You’ll want to starfish, and put your face in, or else you’ll sink.” Sokka said, laughing slightly. Zuko tried to do one, but he just kept sinking.  
“Alright, so as long as it’s cool with you, I’m gonna hold you so you can get a feel for it.”  
“Okay.” Zuko answered, his voice almost failing him.  
Sokka held Zuko up while he tried the float. Zuko slowly dying of embarrassment, mainly because he was so touch starved, and this is some of the only human contact he’d had in a while. Oh God, he knew he was blushing.

Sokka couldn’t help but think about how adorable Zuko is and how he had turned completely red out of embarrassment doing the front float.  
After a few tries, Zuko was able to float on his own, and next was the back float. Again Zuko struggled at first, and Sokka held him up. Unfortunately, for Zuko, he couldn’t stop the blushing from worsening.  
…

“Alright, our time’s up for today, Zuko. You did a fantastic job… normally I’d say see you next week, but I guess I’ll see you at school on Monday, so see you Monday.” Sokka said with a massive smile while getting out of the pool.  
“Yeah…see you Monday.” Zuko said, avoiding eye contact.

As soon as Zuko got in the changing room, he went into a stall, sat down, and let himself have a moment of embarrassment. Now Sokka knew he couldn’t swim, and what if someone else found out? It would kill him. It also didn’t help that Sokka had been shirtless.

…

Once the lesson was done, Sokka went back to the guard office where Suki (who worked in the gym) was waiting.  
“Hey Sokka.” Suki said, clearly about to ask questions. “Is your new student Zuko?”  
“Why do you ask?”  
“Come on, I’m curious… he acts all mysterious at school.”  
“Well, I’m not supposed to tell, but yeah.”  
“So is he like, an excellent swimmer training, or does he have no clue how.”  
“He hasn’t swum before.”  
“Really!”  
“Yeah, it’s not that big of a deal.”  
“I know, but he’s so serious all the time. It humanizes him.”  
“I guess. And you know, he’s pretty cute.”  
“Wait, what?!”  
“He’s so awkward and kinda sweet and…”  
“Sokka, do you like him?”  
“Shut up, maybe… don’t say anything to anyone! Especially Katara.”  
“Why, Katara?”  
“She hates him.”  
“Okay...do you think he’s, you know...”  
“What... gay?”  
“Or bi.”  
“I barely know him...anyway, I have to go back out for lifeguard duty.”  
...  
Zuko considered quitting, but he really wanted to learn how to swim. And being near Sokka, who he just so happened to have a crush on since the first time he ever saw him, probably wasn’t the worst thing, even if he died of embarrassment.  
Just as Zuko opened the door, Iroh was questioning him. “How did it go?”

“Good, I think. At least that’s what the instructor said.”  
“Who’s the instructor?”  
“Does it matter? You probably wouldn’t know them.”  
“I might, I do go to aquafit twice a week. But you don’t have to tell me. Did you enjoy it?”  
“I guess. Anyway, I have to finish an assignment.”  
“Alright.”

Iroh was just glad Zuko was finally getting out, and maybe there was a chance that he would make a friend.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!!! I'm really excited about this fic! Also, I swear it will get better


End file.
